FEMA aid to end for local families

NEW BEDFORD — Families who settled on the SouthCoast after Hurricane Maria and are still receiving disaster aid will have to make other arrangements for their housing expenses by June 30.

Shelter assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency will end on that date. FEMA announced last week that it would grant one final extension of aid, until the end of June. FEMA also said it would grant no further extensions for people affected by hurricanes Maria and Irma.

That means 30 households that have been sheltering in local hotels and motels will no longer have their costs covered. Another seven families whose housing was paid by the Red Cross will see their aid end the same day, according to Darlene Spencer, who has been coordinating the local response for the United Way of Greater New Bedford.

But they shouldn't be out on the street. Many are on waiting lists for public housing, and as disaster survivors, they qualify for the "emergency" list, which is shorter, she said.

The state has arranged with regional housing agencies to take over the task of helping families in hotels find long-term housing. Housing Solutions of Southeastern Massachusetts will handle the New Bedford-area families.

"These families will be given very specific, intensive housing case management to help them find permanent housing," Spencer said.

In general, affordability is the biggest issue for the families who have been looking for apartments. Some families have their first and last months' rent and security deposit but have still had trouble finding "decent" apartments where the landlord will rent to them if their future income is uncertain, she said.

The New Bedford Housing Authority has previously placed in public housing about 26 other families who fled Puerto Rico after the hurricanes, according to Spencer.

Some of the people who have relocated here are working, and some are not. Some have found jobs through the Greater New Bedford Career Center.

Local advocates say the biggest barrier to the relocators getting jobs is their lack of English skills, but many need English classes at an intermediate level, not a beginner level.

Approximately 2,300 families are still living in FEMA-participating hotels in more than 30 states and Puerto Rico, according to a statement from FEMA. The federal agency has provided hotel rooms for more than 7,000 families since October under its Transitional Shelter Assistance program, and FEMA is now offering transportation back to Puerto Rico for families who remain in the program.

Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico on Sept. 20, two weeks after Irma. Maria made landfall as a strong Category 4 hurricane with sustained winds up to 155 miles per hour, according to the National Weather Service. The official death toll of 64 is controversial, because reports have suggested the actual number who died of storm-related causes in the days afterward could be close to 1,000.

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